Category: Work

Another delightful occupational title has come to light, after a little gap filling and “new” records checking on the family tree {1}. Previously I had somehow identified 4x great grandfather Joseph Osborne as a (farm) labourer, supposedly per his son Robert’s marriage registration {5}. However, on making use of Ancestry’s Somerset collection, the original image for this event shows him to be a ‘Pig Jobber’!

The changing lines of work, along with developments in technology and society, come through clearly in searches on the September 1939 register {1}. Of course, many others continue to be employed in more traditional jobs of shop keeper, coal miner, metal worker, gardener, insurance agent, teacher, printer etc. {4}

September 1939 is not so far away as to think that a work description, certainly one for an English job, could be difficult to understand. But what exactly might be involved in being a ‘Trinidad Pitch Pourer’, as seen in this 1939 register extract?

A bonus, month, subscription to FindMyPast has enabled another trawl of the British Newspaper Archive records. There are more digitised journals than the last time round, but a new target seemed a good idea. Who in the family tree might be most likely to appear in a regional or local rag?

The archive of old photos on the Howes side of the family has now passed in to my possession. This will allow more scans, filling in gaps from the 2011 exercise {1}. There are also a few snaps on the Watkins side that were in a separate bundle or mixed up in other papers.

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